Bill Text: NC H926 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

North Carolina House Bill 926 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Promoting Accelerated Student Success

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-20 - Ref To Com On Appropriations [H926 Detail]

Download: North_Carolina-2015-H926-Amended.html

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H 1

HOUSE BILL 926

Short Title: Promoting Accelerated Student Success.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Holloway, Blackwell, Glazier, and Presnell (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Appropriations.

April 20, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT TO appropriate funds for local school administrative units in order to provide THAT EVERY KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE CLASSROOM has A FULL‑TIME TEACHER ASSISTANT AND EVERY SECOND AND THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM has A HALF‑TIME TEACHER ASSISTANT.

Whereas, teacher assistants play an important supplementary role in classroom instruction; and

Whereas, when class size was reduced during the early 2000s, the student to teacher assistant ratio that the teacher assistant allotment is based upon did not change to correlate with the student to teacher ratio; and

Whereas, recurring teacher assistant funding was cut by approximately one hundred twenty‑nine million nine hundred thousand dollars ($129,900,000) in the 2014‑2015 fiscal year; and

Whereas, approximately twenty‑four million eight hundred thousand dollars ($24,800,000) of teacher assistant funds was made nonrecurring in the 2014‑2015 fiscal year; and

Whereas, teacher assistants must have completed 48 hours of higher education courses, obtained an associate degree, or successfully passed a rigorous assessment option to be employed as a teacher assistant; and

Whereas, third grade students are required to read at grade level by the end of the grade; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of two hundred eight million three hundred ninety thousand seven hundred sixty‑seven dollars ($208,390,767) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of two hundred twelve million two hundred sixty‑five thousand three hundred seventy‑three dollars ($212,265,373) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to provide additional funds to local school administrative units to place at least one full‑time teacher assistant in every kindergarten and first grade classroom and to place at least one half‑time teacher assistant in every second and third grade classroom.

SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2015.